The Industrial Revolution was a time of dramatic change, from hand tools and handmade items, to products which were mainly 

produced by machines. Workers became more productive, and since more items were manufactured, prices dropped, making 

exclusive and hard to make items available to the poor and not only the rich and elite. Life generally improved, but the industrial 

revolution also proved harmful. Pollution increased, working conditions were harmful, and capitalists employed women and young 

children, making them work long and hard hours. The Industrial Revolution was a time for change. For the better, or for the worse.

　

The Industrial Revolution may be defined as the application of power-driven machinery to manufacturing. It had its beginning in 

remote times, and is still continuing in some places. In the eighteenth century all of western Europe began to industrialize rapidly, but 

in England the process was most highly accelerated. England's head start may be attributed to the emergence of a number of 

simultaneous factors.

　

　

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There has been much objection to the term because the word revolution

suggests sudden, violent, unparalleled change, whereas the

transformation was, to a great extent, gradual. Some historians argue

that the 13th and 16th cent. were also periods of revolutionary economic

change. However, in view of the magnitude of change between 1750

and 1850, the term seems useful.